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The Barb 6
©AY-IN© TO THE! MOVIES
With Steve Warren I
“We have a moral bar
rier in this country that al
lows us to think that what
foreigners do possibly is
alright for them, and we
won’t frown on it quite so
much as if we did it our
selves.’’
Those are the words of
Robert Aldrich, director of
“The Dirty Dozen,.’’ “What
Ever Happened to Baby
Jane?’’ and more than 20
other features, who stopped
by to promote his latest,
“The Longest Yard,”
which stars Burt Reynolds.
He was talking about yet
another of his pictures,
“The Killing of Sister
George,” the story of a
lesbian relationship be
tween an aging soap opera
star and the youngish girl
she calls “Childie. ”Mt was
based on a play, and the
story was set in England.
“We thought, quite obvi
ously,” the director says,
’’about translating the nat
ionality oi' the ladies invol
ved to Americans.” Be
cause of the “moral bar
rier,” he says, he couldn’t
do that.
“I think the moral pro
blems--or the deviate mo
ral problems--of that pic
ture wouldn’t have been ac
cepted if those ladies had
been all-Americans. It
would have been thought not
in the spectrum of accept
able behavior. Whereas we
could maintain our provin
cial prudism and say, “It’s
alright for the English or
French or whoever, but it’s
not alright for us. So we
could disassociate oursel
ves from what happened and
be voyeurs and watch and
not necessarily approve.”
As it was, the film was
released here with an
“X” rating. But that was
in 1968. Things are dif
ferent today, aren’t they?
Not according to Aldrich.
“Burt Reynolds and I are
making a picture in the
fall,” he says. “It’s a very
ordinary cop story...with
one major exception: Burt
is in love in this picture
with a $500 hooker....
“To play that part, we
were fortunate enough to
get Catherine Deneuve- -
because if you superimpose
over an American scene a
relationship between a
peace officer and a lady of
questionable repute, and
make her an American,
people are going to dislike
her. They’ll reject her as a
being and think of her as an
entity, as a commodity.
However, if she’s Europe
an, we don’t forgive her
but we think we understand
her.”
He dismissed my argu
ment that the same story
had worked with American
characters in “Klute,”
saying that Reynolds will be
a more down-to-earth, less
sophisticated cop than Don
ald Sutherland played oppo
site Jane Fonda’s call girl.
‘ ‘The Longest Yard’ ’ was
filmed in Georgia, at
Reidsville State Prison, but
the story is set in Florida.
Burt Reynolds plays a
prisoner who was once a
professional football play
er. Warden Eddie Albertis
a football nut. His guards
have a team that plays
semi-pro; and Albert ob
sessed with finding new
ways of demonstrating his
power, compels Reynolds
to assemble a team of in
mates to play against the
guards--with the idea that
the cons will be human
tackling dummies.
The last 45 minutes is
devoted to the Big Game,
with the Warden’s various
threats and counter
threats influencing Rey
nolds’ quarterbacking, and
Burt Reynolds in
"The Longest Yard"
TWO FACES OF LIV--
Swedish Actress Liv Ull-
man in a- rare glamour
shot and in new, film “The
Abdication”
drag cheerleaders doing
their thing.
. Because “The Longest
Yard” doesn’t present the
most positive image of our
penal system, I asked Aid-
rich whether the Florida
setting had been stipulated
by Georgia officials in re
turn for permission to film
here.
“I think it was happier
and healthier for every
body,” he says.
OTHER FILMS TO WATCH
- - AND WATCH OUT- - FOR
Garbo made “Queen
Christina” in 1933. “The
Abdication,” which stars
Liv Ullmann, is about the
same historical figure, the
woman who renounced the
Swedish throne in 1654; but
there the resemblance
ends.
In “The Abdication,”
Christina travels to Rome
to convert to Catholicism;
but the Church is suspici
ous of her motives, and the
Cardinals are involved in
their own intrigues to see
who will succeed the ailing
Pope.
Cardinal Azzolino (Peter
Finch) is given the job of
interrogating the former
queen, which he does in the
manner of a Freudian psy
chologist. The more she
reveals of her intimate se
crets, the more emotional
ly involved with him she be
comes.
There are hints of Les
bianism among the various
debaucheries she is accus
ed of, but nothing ever hap
pens.
Barely has soap opera
reached such heights of
artistic pretention as in
“The Abdication.”
“Shanks” may be the
best picture you don’t see
this year. It’s a delightful,
macabre fairy tale with a
brilliant performance by
Marcel Marceau in a dual
role. It’s the kind of film
that develops a cult follow
ing if enough of the right
people see it. But because
it doesn't fit easily into a
commercial category, it
will likely be ignored--if
it’s released at all. Distri
butors don’t spend a lot of
money informing the public
about\ pictures like
“Shanks,” because they
don’t foresee a huge re
turn onl their investment
Marceau plays a deaf-
mute puppeteer who lives
with his campy bitch of a
sister and her drunken
husband. Shanks (Marceau)
goes to work for an old man
(also Marceau) who is ex
perimenting with ways to
make dead things move.
When the old man dies,
Shanks carries on the ex
periments with his body- -
and a few others that hap
pen along.
Marceau’s movements
as a human puppet are a
revelation, beyond anything
he has done before! And de
spite some lapses into
triteness, the film has a
definite charm. It was di
rected by William Castle,
who started out as a third-
rate Hitchcock in the 40s.
If “Shanks” opens at a
theatre near you, run to
see it--it won’t be there
long.
The year’s end will bring
its usual quota of movie di
sasters--figuratively
speaking- - but we’re in for
Some literal disasters, too,
beginning with “Jugger-
nut” and “Airport 1975.”
“Juggernaut” is about
bombs planted aboard a
luxury liner, and the team
--led by Richard Harris--
racing the clock to defuse
them. It builds up quite a
bit of suspense in the sec
ond hour, but the first is
virtually wasted by intro
ducing a lot of characters
without making us feel any
interest or sympathy for
them.
Richard (“The Three
Musketeers”) Lester was
the third and final director
to work on “Juggernaut.”
His contribution is more
functional than creative.
“Airport 1975” is,
nominally, a sequel to the
original “Airport.” It
doesn’t include all those
interesting bits of inside
information that Arthur
Hailey’s novel was cram
med with, but concentrates
on telling a story of pure
suspense.
There are so many stars
in the cast that there’s no
time for character devel
opment, but they’re effect
ively sketched in with broad
strokes.
Gloria Swanson playing
herself playing “Norma
Desmond' ’ playing Gloria
Swanson.
But for excitement,
there’s a big hole in the
cockpit, and stewardess
Karen Black trying to fly
the plane herself-- and
Charlton Heston (who also
happens to be her lover) to
the rescue!
LAST BUT LEAST...
“The House on Skull
Mountain” plans a festive
World Premiere at Loew’s
Grand Theatre--“just like
“Gone with the Wind.” But
there the resemblance
ends.
A poorly made horror/
voodoo film, “The House on
Skull Mountain” was shot
at Callanwolde Estates in
the Atlanta area. Our city
has things to be prouder of.
For sheer camp, there's
Marcel Marceau pushes buttons to make
the dead Tsilla Chelton light his cigar in
"Shanks"